“Welcome Back Mamoni” ( Ep 3 : The Enigma)

“Mamoni! Eta dekho. This is the Sonar Killa”

She was sitting on Gonga Kaku’s lap, looking at the vast picture-book spread open on his hands. “Is this killa really made out of gold, Kaku?” she asked.

“No no! It would have been stolen by now if that were to be true. It is for it’s golden sandstone that it was bestowed the name.”, Kaku said.

“Oh!”, sighed a disappointed Pritha. “I thought this would be a real treasure”, she said.

“No. But you know where the real treasure is? It’s in Kaku’s trunk, way over there across seven seas. When you become all grown up and wise, you will see it. For now, it is bedtime Mamoni”

“Mamoni..”

“Mamoni… Pritha Mamoni.. wake up! we reached!”

Pritha realised she had fallen asleep staring at the ever changing face of the city she left ages ago. They had sent Hari da to pick her up in the family ambassador car. Even though Hari da must be almost 70 years old, nobody in the family had ever called him anything but Hari da.

“Here’s the villa. I have heard it is yours now. Take good care of it Mamoni”, said Hari da as he escorted her to the house.

She could almost still feel the happiness of her childhood memories, although vague now, right in this very place. Her stupor didn’t last long.

Gopal kaku was standing at the door. Behind him stood the mother-son duo who looked distinctly out of place. “Your flight was on time apparently. Hari, keep her bags in the room next to the thakurghor for now. The house is a mess due to number of people who actually did come on time, but don’t worry, we will have enough place for the owner”, he said.

Evan was standing behind him; he looked visibly uncomfortable, fidgeted in his place. Gopal Kaku turned back, recalled something, and tersely walked in. An exchange of awkward smiles couldn’t supplement the much-needed introduction from Gopal Kaku. Pritha failed to piece words together to break the ice, thinking to herself, “Had Ravi da been there with his family, would’ve been a lot easier.”

Amelia took the initiative as they walked into the villa, “Hello. Pritha, right? Let us go to my room for now”. Evan followed behind closely. As Pritha absorbed the surroundings, she felt that she had taken a time machine back to the glory days of the city. The place hadn’t lost any of the old Kolkata charm over the years. It felt as if someone had taken care of the place as their own child. Her star struck gaze betrayed her awe as she took in the surroundings, from which she had been disconnected as long as she could recall. For a few moments, the fact that all of this was hers now and the weight of the responsibility that accompanied it, were forgotten. As her fingers traced the balustrade on the stairs, she could almost feel the heritage of the place flowing through the wood.

“This is my room,” said Amelia, unlocking a door as they reached the first floor landing, “Evan, get Pritha di anything she might need. You take rest Pritha. Must have been a tiring journey”, said Amelia.

“No it’s fine Amelia. Thank you. Can you please tell me which way is the washroom?” asked Pritha.

“Sure. It is over….”, Amelia was interrupted. Bhavatarini dressed in an authentically bengali-style saree entered the room and looked straight at Pritha. “Eki what are you doing sitting around like this? We have waited for so many days for you to get here and you are wasting time like this. Come down to the living room, people have gathered there.”

“Waiting, but, for what?”, asked a befuddled Pritha.

“But.. she just arrived. Maybe a bit…”, said Amelia, drifting off when she saw the look in Bhavatarini’s eyes.

“Save all these nyakamo of your generation for someone else, Omilia. Sitting in AC cabins all day, all of you behave like heavenly maidens being forced to descend on mortal earth at the name of any work.” Bhavatarini said and stormed off.

“I think we should probably go,” Evan finally spoke.

“Yes, we should.” said Pritha. Closing the door behind her, she turned to Amelia, right when the power went off. It was pitch dark.

The darkness was ripped into two with a blood curdling scream for help from downstairs.

Glossary

Mamoni: an endearing way to refer to a little girl

Eta dekho: See this

thakurghor: Literal- god’s room. Room or area in house were god’s idols are kept and worshipped.

Eki: What is this?

nyakamo: fake display of emotions

Omilia: Amelia in bengali accent